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After thirty-one nights of horror, we've finally reached the end of our 2026 Halloween celebration. Spring Heeled Jack returns for one enormous final episode, bringing together strange encounters, unexplained phenomena, listener submissions, original music, and a generous helping of the usual Anthology of Horror nonsense.
This year's finale is built around stories from the places where people encounter things they can't readily explain. We're visiting America's national parks, isolated highways, roadside motels, abandoned schoolhouses, forgotten mining operations, rural communities, and the open ocean.
Along the way, we'll hear accounts of strange things encountered by overnight workers, unusual radio transmissions, mysterious objects brought home by unsuspecting people, unexplained activity along America's railroads, and stories of things that have no business being alive.
Some of these stories are frightening. Some are just plain strange. Others are the sort of experiences that leave people wondering what the hell they actually witnessed.
We're also turning things over to our listeners for a portion of the evening.
You'll hear audio recordings submitted by members of the Anthology of Horror audience, along with a selection of the most inappropriate, insulting, sexually questionable, and genuinely concerning messages we've received through our listener texting service.
There are requests for feet pictures, deeply personal questions about members of Empress, and one particularly persistent individual who apparently believes the world desperately needs an anatomically accurate line of Spring Heeled Jack adult toys.
We sincerely hope some of these messages are just our friends fucking with us.
We're also celebrating Halloween with our annual listener raffle, featuring an assortment of prizes ranging from genuinely desirable to things that probably should have been thrown away years ago.
A Special Thank You
This year's Halloween celebration was an enormous undertaking, and we want to recognize the people who helped make it happen.
First, our producer, Mickie Eberz, whose work behind the scenes keeps this entire operation functioning. From production and organization to managing the considerable amount of material that goes into a month of Halloween programming, Mickie's contributions are indispensable.
A tremendous thank you to Scott Wilson, Nicole, and everyone involved with Empress for providing the music that has accompanied us throughout October. Their album, Sounds of the Season, is available now, and we encourage everybody to give it a listen. You'll find the band's music linked in our episode descriptions.
Special thanks to Jay Darkmoore, Joshua Amen of Stories in the Cemetery, and Kayvan Shai for their contributions to this year's programming.
We also want to thank Nikki Knightly for joining us as a special guest, and Elle Green for continuing to be part of this strange little family we've assembled over the years.
Our appreciation also goes to Deborah Ross-Sullivan, our research assistants, and everybody who contributed their time, talent, research, recordings, or assistance to this year's production.
And, of course, thank you to every listener who submitted a story, sent in an audio recording, participated in the raffle, supported the band, or otherwise helped make this year's celebration possible.
Sam Stoutman's New Book
We also want to give a special shout-out to our longtime friend of the show, author Sam Stoutman, whose new book, The Terrifying Odyssey of Prisoner 1276, is available now.
Set during the Golden Age of Piracy, the novel follows a prisoner who willingly enters an English fort despite knowing that execution awaits him. With only hours remaining before his hanging, he recounts a horrifying voyage involving vampires, monstrous creatures, mysterious phenomena, and encounters that have left him desperate to escape the sea.
But as his story unfolds, one question becomes increasingly difficult to answer: Did these horrors actually happen, or has the prisoner lost his mind?
If you enjoy historical adventure, supernatural horror, pirates, and a healthy dose of the inexplicable, check out Sam's latest work.
Find The Terrifying Odyssey of Prisoner 1276 here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/173291317X
One Last Thank You
To everybody who has supported Anthology of Horror over the years, whether you've been with us since the beginning or only recently discovered the show, thank you.
Your messages, reviews, subscriptions, recommendations, and continued support allow us to keep producing these episodes and bringing new projects to life.
A special thank you to our Anthology of Horror Premium subscribers. Your support helps fund the show, our collaborators, and the music and productions we've been working on.
And congratulations to all of our Halloween raffle winners!
We'll be back with more programming, including our upcoming holiday special and another raffle planned for around Thanksgiving.
Until then, we hope you've enjoyed spending October with us. Whether you've listened to every episode or you're just joining us for the finale, we're glad you're here.
From Spring Heeled Jack, Mickie, Empress, and the entire enormous, dysfunctional Anthology of Horror family, have a very happy Halloween.
And as always,
Stay spooky.
Credits
Host, editor, and executive producer: Spring Heeled Jack
Producer: Mickie Eberz
Original music: Empress
Empress: Scott Wilson, Nicole, and company
Special guest contributors: Jay Darkmoore, Joshua Amen, Kayvan Shai
Special guest: Nikki Knightly
Additional thanks: Elle Green, Deborah Ross-Sullivan, Sam Stoutman, our research assistants, and all participating listeners
Music featured throughout the Halloween celebration: Empress, Sounds of the Season
Listener submissions and audio recordings courtesy of the Anthology of Horror audience.
Thank you for listening to Anthology of Horror.
Support the show
Empress https://open.spotify.com/album/08w2oJCwwhdZ3AiT0Ke7ox?si=2TnOfvQpQy-Q4e5L5ky9og
Demented Darkness https://open.spotify.com/show/2ausD083OiTmVycCKpapQ8
Dark Side of the Nerd https://open.spotify.com/show/6cwN3N3iifSVbddNRsXRTu
Foxhound43 https://rumble.com/user/Foxhound43
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